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Knee pain is among the most common reasons why patients visit our Edinburgh sports injury clinic. Anterior knee pain occurs at the front and centre of the knee with some anterior conditions occasionally also referring pain to the back of the knee. Before treatment of knee pain begins, it is important to distinguish and differentiate between the possible causes of knee pain. This can usually be done through a consultation where we learn about your knee pain along with a simple assessment to test different areas and rule out certain conditions.

The most common causes of anterior knee pain are:

Quadriceps/ Patellar Tendinopathy (a reactive irritation and thickening of the tendon due to being overloaded, very common with, but not exclusive to, runners and sports people)

Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome (PFPS) (compressive forces in the knee joint, usually aggravated by climbing, walking, descending stairs and sitting for long periods)

Fat Pad Impingement (irritation and compression of the fat pad behind the patella, usually worse when the knee is fully extended)

Osgood Schlatter's Disease (OSD) (pain between the quadricep tendon and bone of the tibia, common mostly in younger athletes and children)

Acute Injuries (can occur in structures such as ligament, muscle, bone and cartilage)

Other causes of knee pain can be:

Nerve entrapment (compression of a nerve due to muscular tightness)

Osteoarthritis (gradual decrease of the knee's cartilage resulting in inflammation and pain, very common in the older population)

Bursitis (irritation of fluid filled sacs that usually prevent friction).

Pain referred from a hip displacement (very rare and occurs in younger children)

These types of conditions have different types of treatment strategies and each patient may have different factors that predispose them to knee pain. The vast majority of our anterior knee pain patients will improve within 2-4 visits, receive rehabilitation exercises and treatment such as massage, ultrasound or electrotherapy.